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My nephew Sergio gave a concert in Dallas recently, with the collaboration of a little ensemble, to make a tribute to Chick Corea. I’ve made a video from one of the tunes that were played in that gig, songs composed by Corea and arranged by Sergio.

Griffin, thanks for introducing me to Gotan Project- I love their rather unique sound!

Gotan Project? If you like Gotan project, you really need to go to the maestro that inspires their music, Astor Piazzolla! Milonga del Angel

(Sorry, I don't know how to do the embed.)

Here it is embedded for you Whizbang. Btw, I absolutely LOVED your posting of Astor Piazzolla!! Please share some more, or anything you feel like sharing! As I said earlier, I have limited knowledge of Tango. This thread is a good place to discover and learn. For example, this is where I learned about flamenco from Recaredo, and Indian Classical music from Rupak.

Recaredo, I am thoroughly impressed with your nephew's performance, and his talent! I've already listened to this recording twice! I'm going to share it with my friends and acquaintances, some of them are professional jazz artists. You must be very proud of him! Thanks!

I first heard Grieg's Norwegian Dances ans a young boy and was enthralled. I got Grieg's own piano transcriptions and was disappointed to find theat they were hopelessly out of reach for such an untrained technique. Life intervened over the years and I started lessons in my mid twenties and have since been able to enjoy several sections of these pieces at the keyboard, though there's still room for further development.

This is the first time I've listened to a selection by Joseph Martin Kraus (20 June 1756 – 15 December 1792). He was a composer in the classical era who was born in Miltenberg am Main, Germany, according to my Wikapedia notes. He moved to Sweden at age 21, and died at the age of 36 in Stockholm. He is sometimes referred to as "the Swedish Mozart", and had a life span which was very similar to that of Mozart's.

As a Finale to today’s classical choices here is Berlioz’s great Symphonie Fantastique.

It was so far ahead of its time Berlioz felt compelled to add programme notes for the audience. These are appended for a little light reading should you have time to listen to this.

The composer’s intention has been to develop various episodes in the life of an artist, in so far as they lend themselves to musical treatment. As the work cannot rely on the assistance of speech, the plan of the instrumental drama needs to be set out in advance. The following programme must therefore be considered as the spoken text of an opera, which serves to introduce musical movements and to motivate their character and expression.

First movement: "Rêveries – Passions" (Reveries – Passions)

The author imagines that a young vibrant musician, afflicted by the sickness of spirit which a famous writer[2] has called the wave of passions [la vague des passions], sees for the first time a woman who unites all the charms of the ideal person his imagination was dreaming of, and falls desperately in love with her. By a strange anomaly, the beloved image never presents itself to the artist’s mind without being associated with a musical idea, in which he recognises a certain quality of passion, but endowed with the nobility and shyness which he credits to the object of his love. This melodic image and its model keep haunting him ceaselessly like a double idée fixe. This explains the constant recurrence in all the movements of the symphony of the melody which launches the first allegro. The transitions from this state of dreamy melancholy, interrupted by occasional upsurges of aimless joy, to delirious passion, with its outbursts of fury and jealousy, its returns of tenderness, its tears, its religious consolations – all this forms the subject of the first movement.

Second movement: "Un bal" (A Ball)

The artist finds himself in the most diverse situations in life, in the tumult of a festive party, in the peaceful contemplation of the beautiful sights of nature, yet everywhere, whether in town or in the countryside, the beloved image keeps haunting him and throws his spirit into confusion.

Third movement: "Scène aux champs" (Scene in the Fields)

One evening in the countryside he hears two shepherds in the distance dialoguing with their 'ranz des vaches'; this pastoral duet, the setting, the gentle rustling of the trees in the wind, some causes for hope that he has recently conceived, all conspire to restore to his heart an unaccustomed feeling of calm and to give to his thoughts a happier colouring. He broods on his loneliness, and hopes that soon he will no longer be on his own ... But what if she betrayed him! ... This mingled hope and fear, these ideas of happiness, disturbed by dark premonitions, form the subject of the adagio. At the end one of the shepherds resumes his ‘ranz des vaches’; the other one no longer answers. Distant sound of thunder ... solitude ... silence ...

Fourth movement: "Marche au supplice" (March to the Scaffold)

Convinced that his love is unappreciated, the artist poisons himself with opium. The dose of narcotic, while too weak to cause his death, plunges him into a heavy sleep accompanied by the strangest of visions. He dreams that he has killed his beloved, that he is condemned, led to the scaffold and is witnessing his own execution. As he cries for forgiveness the effects of the narcotic set in. He wants to hide but he cannot so he watches as an onlooker as he dies. The procession advances to the sound of a march that is sometimes sombre and wild, and sometimes brilliant and solemn, in which a dull sound of heavy footsteps follows without transition the loudest outbursts. At the end of the march, the first four bars of the idée fixe reappear like a final thought of love interrupted by the fatal blow when his head bounced down the steps.

He sees himself at a witches’ sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of shades, sorcerers and monsters of every kind who have come together for his funeral. Strange sounds, groans, outbursts of laughter; distant shouts which seem to be answered by more shouts. The beloved melody appears once more, but has now lost its noble and shy character; it is now no more than a vulgar dance tune, trivial and grotesque: it is she who is coming to the sabbath ... Roar of delight at her arrival ... She joins the diabolical orgy ... The funeral knell tolls, burlesque parody of the Dies irae, the dance of the witches. The dance of the witches combined with the Dies irae.

Thanks Richard. Great postings from you today! I am looking forward to listening to Berlioz's symphony later this evening? I must admit I've done very little exploration of Berlioz's works. Now you've provided with this wealth music and wonderful background notes. Thanks a million Partner!